Apocalypse
by FlyWithTheFlock
Summary: Itex has proceeded with the plan to reduce the Earth's population to a fraction of what it is. How will Max and the flock survive? READ AND FIND OUT!
1. Chapter 1

Apocalypse

Every TV in the world flickered on. Video boxes popped up on every computer in the world. Cellular devices shut down. The same face appeared on every single screen. The director of Itex smiled venomously and announced, "Hello, people of Earth." Families across the world leaned in towards the screen. Neighbors called each other.

"Jan? Are you seeing this?"

"Yeah! Rachel, this is so weird!"

"For years, this planet of ours has been on a downward spiral," the Director continued. "This once beautiful and peaceful Earth has become a breeding ground for misery and misfortune. As the leader of Itex, I am happy to tell you that we are on a mission to solve that. We have developed a plan to cut the Earth's population down to a fraction of what it is. Earth will rise once again to the powerful, beautiful planet it was meant to be. Our plan is going to proceed in a matter of hours. America, prepare for the new world!" With this final sentence, TV and computer screens resumed their regular appearance. Cell phones all over the world automatically turned on. The world resumed as if nothing had happened.

Women screamed. Men put their heads in their hands. Children cried. People were hurrying, arranging flights, packing. It was no use. The world would be completely different in a few short hours.

We all gasped. Nudge was shaking uncontrollably, while Iggy looked horrified, and Gazzy looked confused. Fang's face was grim and Angel looked around at all of us in shock. I punched the off button on the TV in our hotel room and turned to face them. I couldn't think of anything to say. Nudge burst into tears. Iggy reached out for her and wrapped his arms around her. No one said anything. Fang finally spoke up.

"Well this sucks."

"You got that right." I croaked. Angel turned to me and said, "Max? They forget to tell everyone how many people would die." A lump rose in my throat. "They did that on purpose, sweetie." Angel frowned and her lip quivered. "That's horrible!" I nodded. Nudge sniffed and rasped, "I can't believe they're actually going to do it!" Gazzy still looked completely lost. But he was nice enough not to ask about it. I stood up. "Well…" I didn't really know what to suggest. Fang looked at me intently, waiting to hear one of my brilliant ideas. I opened my mouth, but didn't say anything.

Later that night, as everyone stuffed their faces with pizza, I sat on the couch and thought. I was wound up, trying to think of how we could get away. An hour ago, a timer had come up on TV, going until the plan would begin. We were thinking bombs. And fire. We definitely didn't want to be in _**any**_ city. The timer had about three hours left. I paced. Fang walked in and leaned against the wall.

"You might wanna take it easy on the thinking."

"Why?" I asked.

"I can smell your hair burning from the kitchen."

I tried to force a smile, but as hard as it is to believe, I couldn't. Fang sighed and went off to him, Gazzy, and Iggy's room. I went online and looked up the Director's speech. Videos of it were posted everywhere. I listened to her disgusting voice say how nature used to be beautiful. Suddenly, it hit me.

"GUYS! Pack your bags! Hurry!" The timer was on its last hour and a half.

Everyone ran out. "Where are we going?" said Gazzy excitedly.

"It's simple!" I explained, "They want to get rid of people to make the world beautiful again. They're not going to go and bomb the forests! So we just have to disappear into a place where they won't look for people!" Comprehension flickered into all their faces. Nudge threw her arms around my neck and yelled, "Max you should be on, like, Jeopardy or something! You're so smart! You're like, um, Albert Einstein!" I laughed and pushed her off. Fang was already packing food into a pack. I rolled my eyes. Leave it to a guy to think of food first.


	2. Chapter 2

**NOTE**

Sorry!!! Forgot the disclaimer.

I don't own any part of Maximum Ride!!!!!

Just thought I'd clear that. Guess what guys? I GOT ONE WHOLE HIT!!! WHOOOO! I'd like to have at least ten before the next chapter though, ok? That would be super cool. Thanks!!!!

PEACE OUT!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 2

We flew to the North, over Washington. We looked at our map and found a relatively small mountain range. We were all pretty tense. According to the clock when we left it, half of the world would be dead in about half an hour. We had no idea how, but it was going to happen. The director had announced it to the world.

Nudge swooped around while describing everything to Iggy (Note to self: they seem to be getting close. Should I worry or ignore this disturbing fact??). Fang finally picked out a cave that was scooped out on a pretty tall peak. We coasted to the side and landed. Nudge lay down on the cave floor, exhausted. Fang chucked a blanket at her. Nudge groaned and pulled it over her head.

I started a fire with some moss we found on the cave floor and Gazzy and Angel were totally out. It was kind of a good thing, though, because we didn't want them to be totally aware of what was going to happen. Fang and I decided to check it out, see what kind of horror the whitecoats would unleash next, so we left Nudge and Iggy (!) to watch Gazzy and Angel. We took off and headed in the direction we had come from.

We flew a pretty long way and came to Seattle (I'm not good at geography but when I saw the Space Needle, I pretty much knew). We stayed a fair distance away, so thank God for raptor vision. We perched on a bunch of trees outside the town. We waited. And waited. Fang checked a watch he had 'found' a while back and muttered, "Four minutes." That's when we saw them.

Crowds of people came pouring out of their homes. Sobbing mothers and children, and tight-faced fathers. They held flashlights and marched in huge herds down the street. I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand. Fang's face held no expression whatsoever. The people continued on in a large march and were headed towards the city. Fang whispered, "Ten seconds." We stood completely still. A mental clock went on in my head.

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1

A huge flash filled the city. A bomb. Instinctively, Fang and I flew way back and up, to avoid the rush of wind. We heard huge rumbles and roaring. The bomb died down almost immediately. Where sky scrapers once were, there were now spindly towers of black ash. The whole city had turned black. The space needle was burned to nothing. I choked out a cry of some sort. Fang was dead silent (shocker). We flew down, careful to avoid the crumbling building remains. We went down to where the crowd of people had stood moments before.

There was nothing. Thousands of black mounds were crumpled in the streets. People. I couldn't believe it. Little kids. I breathed out slowly. Fang did the same.

"You know what?" Fang said, suddenly.

"What?"

"I can believe that the whitecoats made us freaks, but _this…_"

"Yeah. It's pretty-"I was cut off by a low moan from the side of the road.

My head snapped in the direction of the pitiful noise. Fang walked over to a pile of bodies that seemed to be moving slightly. He pulled one aside and looked at me, his face grim. I walked over to see a little girl, huddled under her dead parents.

It took a lot of strength to not cry. I helped her up. She was crying and moaning. Half her face was badly burned. She was in her pajamas. She sat up and mumbled, "What happened?" Fang said tightly, "A bomb went off." The little girl looked confused. She turned her head. When she saw the bodies of her family sitting beside her, she started screaming.

"Shh! Shush! You have to be quiet!"

The little girl tried, but only managed to quiet her cries. They faded into a steady sobbing. Fang whispered in my ear, "We need to get back to the cave. The whitecoats are probably going to sweep through the towns, wipe out anyone left." I nodded and picked up the girl. She wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and whimpered, "Please don't leave me."

"I won't." I vowed. Fang gave me a look that said, _What the hell are you thinking?_ I gave him my most serious look of all. He seemed to understand. We took off and flied silently (trust me; it takes a lot of strength to lift a girl). It seemed like ten thousand years before we got there, but we finally did. We landed to find Nudge and Iggy whispering to each other. Nudge looked up and said, "So what happened was-"She stopped when she saw the little girl (whose name was still unknown). She shut up really quick and whispered something to Iggy who looked confused. We set down the little girl and decided we had better get some sleep. "I'll take first watch." Fang volunteered. I happily agreed and was asleep before my head hit the ground.

I woke up in the morning, hoping things would be a little bit better than yesterday. Angel was knelt over the little girl we had found. I walked over to her too. Something was odd, I noticed. Her eyes were only partially closed and her mouth hung open. I felt for a pulse. Nothing. Angel burst into tears. I didn't bother to question why.


End file.
